Starting from studying in Germany as a doctoral student in June 2004，I visited Germany for a longer period of time in 2016-2017 and in the second half of 2023，First、The three universities visited were nj bet365 Munich in Bavaria, southern Germany, and the neighboring University of Augsburg，The second university visit was to nj bet365 Münster in the northern state of North Rhine-Westphalia，Have experience in universities in both north and south Germany。Due to previous study visits to Germany, there is no pressure to study for a degree，Mainly engaged in my own research，In addition, the number of work places in German law schools has always been tight，There is no separate office during several visits，The most you can get is a desk in a foreign visiting scholar’s ​​office shared by multiple people，It’s better to be in the library，You can view it at any time、Have fun excerpting and scanning the information。The library therefore became the main place for my study and research in Germany。

German university libraries can be roughly divided into two layouts: decentralized and centralized layouts。Most of them adopt decentralized layout，such as University of Münster、University of Munich、Heidelberg University、University of Cologne、University of Bonn、Law Library of nj bet365 Freiburg, etc.。The libraries of law schools in these schools are divided by subject，Do not communicate with each other，And the collection of books is generally not available for lending，Thus causing the decentralization of the legal collection，If you want to engage in interdisciplinary research，Need to travel between different libraries，Quite inconvenient。Using centralized layout，such as Augsburg University Library。The Law Library is a branch of the school library，Near Law School，He Central Hall、Social Science Branch Library、Psychiatric science branches and other branches are connected to each other，Work together to form a giant radial library network。The law library has three floors，A collection of books on various legal disciplines，For open reading，Most books can be borrowed by yourself，Closed books need to be borrowed through the Central Library。Due to centralized collection of books，All legal subject materials can be searched in one library，No need to move between different collections，Free from the pain of running around。But this kind of centralized library opens and closes uniformly，Cannot be used once the holiday is over，Not convenient for independent learning。

German university libraries will also separately classify and collect some old books and doctoral theses，Borrowing these documents requires a separate reservation，There are even some documents that are only available in the library，If there is a lack of scanning equipment in the library，It is quite inconvenient to use these documents。However, the law libraries of nj bet365 Munich and nj bet365 Münster still have many old books from the 19th century for open-shelf reading。In addition，German university professors may also have their own personal libraries，For those who don’t know，Normally loaned out。For example University of Münster，Books in the professor's library will be displayed in the Online Public Catalog Retrieval System (OPAC)，But the books in the private library cannot be borrowed by yourself，Cannot be borrowed through the interlibrary loan system yet。Some books in the law library are also available for long-term borrowing by assistants of professorships，And cannot make an appointment to urge its return，Some do not even display the borrower information，Although this facilitates the research work of book users，But it adds inconvenience to other readers。

The third study visit was after the COVID-19 epidemic，Compared to before，The first change the epidemic has brought to German nj bet365 libraries is the extension of opening hours。In addition，The services and electronic level provided by German nj bet365 libraries to readers have also improved a lot。For books that have not yet been digitized，The library can provide remote loan、Service of scanning some chapters of papers or books。But for new books or foreign books，Borrowing through the interlibrary loan system of German nj bet365 libraries often fails。However，Interlibrary loan through the German Federal Supreme Court Library sometimes offers unexpected surprises。Winter 2023，When my request for a new Austrian law book via remote loan was rejected，The nj bet365 Library of Augsburg actually decided to purchase a copy for my use，It’s a pity because of the two weeks of Christmas vacation，New books will not be available until next year，For me who is about to return to China，Only regrets。

Compared with the first study trip to Germany，German electronic libraries (databases) are also springing up like mushrooms after a rain。German Mainstream Legal Publishing House，Like C.H. Beck、Nomos、De Gruyter、Duncker & Humblot and Mohr Siebeck, etc.，All have opened their own electronic databases，Full text download available，The update speed is much faster than the purchase of paper books in the nj bet365 library。To many old books before the 19th century，Munich State Library、The Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory in Frankfurt has also gone electronic。With the first two study visits，Or copy and mail the materials yourself at a high price，Or practice scanning skills yourself，Nowadays, the ease of obtaining German legal information is very different。However，For old books from ten years ago，The download interface of Beck and Nomos e-book database is not friendly，A book is often divided into hundreds of sections for download，Not like a new book，Can be downloaded with one click，Or just download a few files。And，Beck-online, Germany’s earliest and largest legal electronic database, has strict restrictions to prevent malicious downloads，Especially Codex Commentary，Often downloaded by side code，Downloading just one large comment often exhausts permissions，If you are not careful, you may be warned or even have your account suspended。The Beck-online database also adjusts the content of different law modules every year，Let libraries keep paying for new modules。German universities have different financial resources，There are also obvious differences in the database purchase quantity and usage rights。

The wealth inequality in German university libraries is also reflected in the number of books collected and the degree of updating of new books。The old universities of Munich and Tübingen have quite rich collections，Many early books or doctoral theses are collected。Although nj bet365 Augsburg is a new university，On the collection and storage of basic documents，But not too generous，Also created space for part of the collection of books donated by the late famous jurist Professor Fikentscher of the Faculty of Law of nj bet365 Munich。In comparison，Other universities in German-speaking areas，For example, the Civil Law Library of the Law School of nj bet365 Vienna, Austria，New book updates are slow，Resulting in a relatively old collection of books。In foreign legal literature，The collection of books in German university law libraries is also relatively scarce，Especially English legal books，For example, the Civil Law Library of the Faculty of Law at nj bet365 Münster has a separate space for other civil law books from various countries，But new books in recent years are not common，And often collected exclusively by individual libraries，Interlibrary loans are often rejected。In comparison，The Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Private Law in Hamburg benefits from frequent international exchanges，A rich collection of foreign legal literature，And manage the collected documents in a dense library according to country and type。However，The type of collection in each country may be related to the research interests of the person in charge of that country。For example，Professor Park Fayan’s doctoral thesis topic is “China’s Capital Market Law”，The Chinese and Korean legal department he is responsible for has collected a large number of "China Securities News"。When I was browsing, I accidentally found a new book on the Civil Code edited by myself on the display shelf。Emerging disciplines，Literature such as digital law and climate law，It is mainly supplemented through electronic database。

In the digital age，German university library facilities have also been updated with the times。For example, nj bet365 Augsburg Library uses the V:Scout information system to three-dimensionally display the location of borrowed books，And you can borrow books by yourself through electronic devices，We also prepare single or multi-room Carrels (study rooms) for doctoral students and visiting scholars for study，There is also a discussion room for students to discuss。The library of nj bet365 Hamburg also has a coffee room for students to rest and chat。However，Old schools like Munich University of Law，No book anti-theft system has been installed yet，It’s just that wearing coats is no longer prohibited in the library as in the past。

　(The author is a professor at the School of Law, Zhongnan nj bet365 Economics and Law)